State of the Market

[edison]

There is a reason why people don't want to be lawyers and there is also a reason why they are paid £142,000.

That reminds me of the time I had a personal one to one meeting with a junior-ish lawyer at a top 30 global law firm in the City. She came into the room and offered to make me a cup of tea. We had a little bit of chit chat and then I realised that had already cost me £100 so I thought I better get on with the meeting!

[jayn200]

That reminds me of the time I had a personal one to one meeting with a junior-ish lawyer at a top 30 global law firm in the City. She came into the room and offered to make me a cup of tea. We had a little bit of chit chat and then I realised that had already cost me £100 so I thought I better get on with the meeting!

This is why I dont get the appeal of the big firms, pay outrageous prices for extremely junior people.

[vwdan]

Very odd discussion today. Foreign recruiter, for a foreign firm (big names, big stuff) struggling to find the right combination of skills, experience, availability etc and is apparently looking further afield.

The hours are very much not appealing, but the money.....well....wow. Probably more than I'd ever earn again.

[hairymouse]

By way of comparison, O2 is a breath of fresh air. Pragmatism and 'Let's get it done' have made my several times there an utter joy.

One more story and then I'm done.

While at O2 I delivered a small product that from your phone, allowed you to create postcards that with your photo and text, would then be printed, stamped and posted to anyone anywhere in the world. Clearly this was before smart phones. It took us four months to bash it out. The supplier told us that they had previously supplied the same product to Voda for rollout and it took them over one year.

I said I couldn't possibly believe that.

And then I worked at Voda...

I worked at giffgaff for a time and there were lots of very positive things about it. If you are a hipster, or can tolerate hipsters and do java, it could be perfect.

[ChimpMaster]

I need some direction -

Where do contractors go to die?

I mean, to end their careers? And how?

In a few weeks' time, I'm going to be out of work for the first time in 24 years, and the first time out of contract since 2004. There are no contracts for my dead skills, and truthfully I'm happy applying for perm jobs, but no one is biting, not even the agents.

I'm not crying about it. I've been very fortunate thus far. But it's a steep step down from my heady contract rates into the hopeless abyss of nothingness.

I can't retire in my 40s. And I just don't know what to do next.

[ladymuck]

I need some direction -

Where do contractors go to die?

I mean, to end their careers? And how?

In a few weeks' time, I'm going to be out of work for the first time in 24 years, and the first time out of contract since 2004. There are no contracts for my dead skills, and truthfully I'm happy applying for perm jobs, but no one is biting, not even the agents.

I'm not crying about it. I've been very fortunate thus far. But it's a steep step down from my heady contract rates into the hopeless abyss of nothingness.

I can't retire in my 40s. And I just don't know what to do next.

Why can't you retire in your 40's? If you've got the cash behind you, take some time out to try new things and see what takes your fancy.

If you have young kids, I'd have suggested you take them out of school for home schooling and travel - maths is far more interesting if you're using it to figure out the volume of the great pyramid at Giza. Except that was an option in the before time.

The main downside of retiring now is that the world has massively shrunk and the old options are no longer available at the moment. That doesn't mean don't, it just means you have to think harder and you can't do that if you're working.

Personally, I have no clue what I'd do if I didn't have a job I am barely competent at with people I only just about tolerate

[jamesbrown]

I can't retire in my 40s. And I just don't know what to do next.

Oh, go on.

I doubt it's much different than retiring at 60+ tbh. I don't really feel any different now (early 40s) than 20 years ago, and I doubt I will at 60. Regardless of age, you'll need a plan to occupy your time, otherwise you'll go completely nuts. I watched that happen to my father (went from a highly social work environment to nothing in the space of a day) and it isn't pretty.

[Antman]

I've seen more posts recently in LinkedIn from recruitment consultants being taken on / getting back into recruitment. Make of that what you will.

[CheeseSlice]

I need some direction -

Where do contractors go to die?

I mean, to end their careers? And how?

In a few weeks' time, I'm going to be out of work for the first time in 24 years, and the first time out of contract since 2004. There are no contracts for my dead skills, and truthfully I'm happy applying for perm jobs, but no one is biting, not even the agents.

I'm not crying about it. I've been very fortunate thus far. But it's a steep step down from my heady contract rates into the hopeless abyss of nothingness.

I can't retire in my 40s. And I just don't know what to do next.

How dead are we talking?
Sounds like you need to spend a bit of time off upskilling, learning that new tech that is missing from your CV but is in every one of the job ads at the moment.
Even if you have no experience, you can talk about it with confidence at interview and use it to complement your other experience.

[NowPermOutsideUK]

Chipmaster I have thought about this and I am not joking when I say this is what I plan to do

I am going to basically retire and do property renovations and buying and selling in auctions and do DIY around the properties that I have and self manage them

My specific circumstances means that working PAYE will result is a massive tax bill so not worth it - Instead of paying builders to lay floors paint rooms change radiators and general DIY stuff I dll do that myself

Not a full time job but does keep me busy and I ll find a new hobby or two including gardening / cycling / cars whatever takes your fancy really

PAYE when you have some property income is just going to kill the motivation especially after outside IR35 contractor

How about coming up with a new disguised loan scheme that actually works - Or from todays guardian this which I think is nuts but people are buying !!

How first-time buyers are working together to get their deposits | First-time buyers | The Guardian

And finally didnt cojoak post some stuff on Plan Z wioth amazon / ebay arbitrage